So i was asked by Ben to build him a carbon dummy tank for his race bike.
I thought you guys might like some pictures etc.

I was originally going to flash the tank with a new coat of 2K paint but the primer was so hard ive gone with that,
i should have been further on in the project but my mother decided to fall over and break her foot so im a few days behind where i wanted to be.
Over the next few weeks i will post up my progress so you can see how it turns out.

Chris.

Tank rubbed down and masking tape fitted to give me a joint line for what will be a three part mould.

You basically stick masking tape on then draw onto this and then cut at the line,
this is then transferred onto your sign board to show the cut profile.

Next i hot glue sign board along the edge of the tank to form a up stand,
this allows space around the part to attach carbon fibre and extra infusion consumables.


The tank can now be hot glued onto a base ready for filleting of the cuts.


All filleted up and im applying masking tape to the top,
this protects the paint from the heat of the glue and gives a line to work to.

The air vent on the tank is a pain and means that i have to put a join in the mould
at that point so dictating everything else.

Tank looks like it wearing a crazy Mohican hair cut.
Fitted top flange up stands, a little filleting wax to be done and then I can start with the tooling resin.


Reminder to self, add lots of release wax!!!!

Nice work pal

Looks good so far, thanks for putting it all on the forum!

Will look sick when its done mate.

probably a bit late now but...

Assuming the cover will be for a smaller dummy tank underneath - why bother with the breather mount? The smaller dummy tank would probably sit behind the airbox with it's own breather connection, making the original one redundant. The GRP cover could be flat at this point, making it easier to mould.

If it's just a cosmetic cover fitted over existing tank, this breather relocation obviously won't apply



I'm watching the thread with interest, as i would love a dummy tank + GRP cover like one in photo on my track bike

Good luck with the project

Yes mate the oe breather is a pain in the rear and dictates other work but these tanks are getting rare so I'm not about to chop a near mint one up to make life easy.
Benny can sell this on after to recoup some funds.

Looking forward to seeing it done

Ive now finished one side of the three parts that will make up the mould.
This vinyl ester is nasty stuff, it's one of those jobs that once you commit there's no turning back.
Hoped to have got a little further than this but I now have a baby with scarlet fever and a mother with a broken foot!!!

Uni mould system cured and ready to next side.

So not too much to see but the other side is now done.



Importantly ive only the smaller top part of the mould to finish so should have a working mould come the weekend.
Once I can see inside the mould I will have an idea of how the CF cloth will be layed.